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Saturday, November 08, 2008

Backlash against Mormon cult continues.

The backlash against the Mormon sect and its deceptive methods in the antigay Prop 8 campaign continues. Some 5,000 protesters showed up at the Los Angeles Mormon Temple -- where secret rituals which allegedly are required so Mormons can become Gods, are performed.

The Mormon Church is very unhappy about the protests. More importantly they are rather furious that their role in the antigay campaign is being publicized. While they felt free to fund television ads which were soundly condemned for being dishonest and deceptive the Mormons are upset because people are telling the truth about them and their campaign.

The television ad which satirically showed two Mormon missionaries invading the home of a gay couple in order to rip up their marriage certificate was condemned by the Mormons and their allies. A Yes on 8 official said the commercial “crossed every line of decency”. How rich! These are the people who lied about a first grade class and used photos of children against the wishes of the parents. But these hypocrites are lecturing opponents on decency.

The Yes on 8 official said: “If this activity were directed against any other church, if someone put up a web site that targeted Jews or Catholics in a similar fashion... it would be widely and rightfully condemned.” What a drama queen! Actually, he’s wrong. Religious groups have thousands of web sites up attacking other religious groups and they do so without widespread condemnation. In addition, the protests against the Mormons are not over their wacky doctrines but over their use of the political system to strip people of their rights.

Churches are incredibly hypocritical when it comes to these issues. They seem to believe that they, and they alone, ought to be exempt from criticism or investigation because they are religions. That religion pretends insists on immunity from scrutiny is absurd. But it becomes doubly absurd when those sects also demand the right to create laws based on their theology. They want to impose “God’s will” on everyone by coercive legislation yet they want to do so without being subjected to debate or criticism. And, as this site has shown, the Mormon sect has continued to distribute a lecture in which an assault on a gay man is praised with the words “somebody had to do it”. Respect for people, in Mormon circles, is a one way street.

A Mormon spokesperson said that no one “should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information”. Yet the church had their members pour $20 million into television commercials which did precisely that.

In Salt Lake City, headquarters for the Mormon cult, former church members are organizing a protest against the church and its role in the Prop 8 campaign. Jonathan Whipple, a former Mormon missionary, is organizing the protest. Previous protests in Utah were led by Mormons with gay children. And at least one protester at the LA temple was wearing his Mormon missionary outfit, name tag and all.